Locating a user device

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure support improving determination of a location of a driver device that performs bandwidth constrained communication with a server, based on sensor data acquired by the driver device. The driver device reduces dimensionality of the acquired sensor data before transmitting the sensor data to the server over a communication network. The server receives GPS data and compressed sensor data from the driver device, and determines a quality metric related to the GPS data. Based on the quality metric, the server increases dimensionality of the compressed sensor data to reconstruct original sensor data acquired by the driver device. The server than augments the GPS data with the reconstructed sensor data, and determines location information of the driver device based on the augmented data.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/881,586 filed Jan. 26, 2018 which is continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/396,222, filed Dec. 30, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,924,320,which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Described embodiments generally relate to determining locationinformation, and more particularly relate to using sensor data acquiredby a mobile user device to communicate the device's location to a serverin a bandwidth-constrained environment.

Traditionally, in a system where a server communicates with a mobileuser device, location of the mobile user device can be identified at theserver using Global Positioning System (GPS) data obtained from themobile user device. The server utilizes GPS data received from themobile user device and performs map matching to determine location ofthe mobile user device. However, in certain areas known as urbancanyons, GPS data obtained by the mobile user device can substantiallydrift over a short period of time, making it unreliable for accuratedetermination of the mobile user device's location.

SUMMARY

Disclosed embodiments enable determination of a location of a mobiledevice that is in communication with a server. The mobile device obtainspositioning data such as GPS data, from which it calculates itsposition. The mobile device further acquires Inertial Measurement Unit(IMU) data having a first dimensionality or a first size. The mobiledevice processes (compresses) the acquired IMU data to reduce itsdimensionality. The mobile device then transmits, over a communicationnetwork, the GPS data using a first transmission periodicity and thecompressed IMU data using a second transmission periodicity that can bebased on the reduced dimensionality.

The server receives the GPS data and compressed IMU data from the mobiledevice. In some embodiments, the server determines a quality metricrelated to the received GPS data. Based on the determination of thequality metric, the server processes the compressed IMU data to increasedimensionality of the compressed IMU data to its originaldimensionality. In this way, the server reconstructs the IMU dataacquired at the mobile device. The server then augments the received GPSdata with the reconstructed IMU data to obtain augmented position data.The server can determine location information of the mobile device basedon the augmented position data, and provides the determined locationinformation to the mobile device via the communication network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example system comprising at least one user equipment (UE)communicating with a server via a communication network, in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method that may be implemented atthe UE in FIG. 1, in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method that may be implemented atthe server in FIG. 1, in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a mobile computing deviceupon which embodiments described herein may be implemented.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system upon whichembodiments described herein may be implemented.

The figures depict embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes ofillustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromthe following description that alternative embodiments of the structuresand methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing fromthe principles, or benefits touted, of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication systems. The teachings herein may be incorporated into(e.g., implemented within or performed by) a variety of wirelessdevices. A wireless device may provide, for example, connectivity for orto a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or acellular network) via a wireless communication link. In someembodiments, a wireless device implemented in accordance with theteachings herein may comprise an access point or an access terminal.

An access point (“AP”) may comprise, be implemented as, or known asNodeB, Radio Network Controller (“RNC”), eNodeB, Base Station Controller(“BSC”), Base Transceiver Station (“BTS”), Base Station (“BS”),Transceiver Function (“TF”), Radio Router, Radio Transceiver, BasicService Set (“BSS”), Extended Service Set (“ESS”), Radio Base Station(“RBS”), or some other terminology. In some implementations, an accesspoint may comprise a set top box kiosk, a media center, a server or anyother suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wirelessor wired medium.

An access terminal (“AT”) may comprise, be implemented as, or known asan access terminal, a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, a mobilestation, a remote station, a remote terminal, a user terminal, a useragent, a user device, user equipment, a user station, a device carriedby a driver of a mobile vehicle (e.g., an automobile) or in the driver'sautomobile, or some other terminology. In some implementations, anaccess terminal may comprise a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone,a Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”) phone, a wireless local loop(“WLL”) station, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), a handheld devicehaving wireless connection capability, a Station (“STA”), or some othersuitable processing device connected to a wireless modem. Accordingly,one or more embodiments taught herein may be incorporated into a phone(e.g., a cellular phone or smart phone), a computer (e.g., a laptop), aportable communication device, a portable computing device (e.g., apersonal data assistant), a tablet, an entertainment device (e.g., amusic or video device, or a satellite radio), a television display, aflip-cam, a security video camera, a digital video recorder (DVR), aglobal positioning system device, or any other suitable device that isconfigured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

Described embodiments include methods and apparatuses for determininglocation information of a mobile user equipment that performs bandwidthconstrained communication with a server, based on various sensor dataacquired by the mobile user equipment. The mobile user equipment acts asan access terminal of a bandwidth constrained wireless communicationsystem, whereas the server acts as an access point of the wirelesscommunication system. The mobile user equipment may also correspond to adevice carried by a driver of an automobile or a device carried in thedriver's automobile. The methods presented herein are based on reducing,at the mobile user equipment, a dimensionality of the acquired sensordata. The mobile user equipment compresses the acquired sensor data andthen transmits the compressed sensor data to the server for furtherprocessing and location determination. The server can be configured toreconstruct original sensor data from the received compressed sensordata by increasing dimensionality of the compressed sensor data to itsoriginal dimensionality. The server uses the reconstructed sensor dataalong with available GPS data to perform server side map matching todetermine location information of the mobile user equipment. Thedescribed methods and apparatuses allow for constrained bandwidth andlow latency communication between the mobile user equipment and theserver, while preserving power dissipation at the mobile user equipmentbelow a predetermined upper bound.

FIG. 1 is an example communication system 100 comprising at least oneuser equipment (UE) 105 communicating with a server 110 via acommunication network 115, in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The UE 105 is a smartphone or a tablet with GPS that iscarried by a driver of an automobile or in the driver's automobile; theserver 110 is a media center or a map server that is configured todetermine a location of the UE 105 on a map and communicate the locationinformation to the UE 105 via the communication network 115. As shown inFIG. 1, the server 110 can simultaneously communicate with more than oneUE 105 via the communication network 115. The communication network 115can correspond to a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellularnetwork. Communication between each UE 105 and the server 110 can beachieved via a wireless medium, a wireless channel, or a wireless link120 of the communication network 115, as shown in FIG. 1. In someembodiments, communication bandwidth and communication latency acrossthe wireless link 120 can be constrained by predetermined upper bounds.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method 200 that may be performedat the UE 105 in FIG. 1, in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Operations of the method 200 begin as the UE 105 obtains 205GPS data with position information describing a location of the UE 105.In an embodiment, the UE 105 obtains the GPS data with a frequency ofapproximately 1 Hz, i.e., approximately every 1 second. In alternateembodiments, the UE obtains the GPS data with a frequency smaller than 1Hz (e.g., with a frequency of 0.25 Hz or 0.5 Hz) or with a frequencylarger than 1 Hz (e.g., with a frequency of 2 Hz). In some embodiments,the UE 105 can have knowledge of a quality metric associated with theobtained GPS data, the quality metric indicating how reliable the GPSdata are for location determination. In an embodiment, the UE canreceive information about the quality metric of the GPS data from theserver 110 via the communication network 115. If the quality metric ofthe GPS data is below a threshold indicating that the GPS data drift offand are not reliable for location determination, utilizing only the GPSdata to determine location information of the UE 105 is not sufficient.In this case, the GPS data can be augmented with additional sensor dataacquired by the UE 105 to improve determination of location informationin relation to the UE 105.

The UE 105 acquires 210 sensor data by at least one sensor coupled tothe UE 105, such as by at least one sensor 465 of a computing device 400shown in FIG. 4. The computing device 400 is an embodiment of the UE105. In some embodiments, the acquired sensor data comprise InertialMeasurement Unit (IMU) data, which may be obtained by an InertialMeasurement Unit (IMU) coupled to the UE 105. The IMU is an electronicdevice that generates fast calibration data based on measurement signalsreceived from one or more sensors coupled to the UE 105, such asposition sensors. The one or more sensors of the UE 105 generate one ormore measurement signals in response to motion of the UE 105. In someembodiments, the UE 105 comprises an accelerometer, a gyroscope, amagnetometer, a spatial triangulation sensor, or other position sensors.Thus, the sensors 465 of the computing device 400 in FIG. 4 may includean IMU, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, a spatialtriangulation sensor, etc.

In an illustrative embodiment, the UE 105 acquires the IMU data with afrequency of approximately 25 Hz, which means that the UE 105 acquiresthe IMU data more often than the GPS data. In general, a frequency ofacquiring the IMU data is greater than a frequency of obtaining GPSdata. A dimensionality (size) of the acquired IMU data can be high, andhigher than a dimensionality of the GPS data, due to a number of sensorsinvolved in acquiring the IMU data and a frequency of updating thesensors' measurements when acquiring the IMU data. The size of the IMUdata is related to an amount of the IMU data acquired and collectedbefore transmitting the IMU data to the server 110. In an exampleembodiment, this collected amount of the IMU data is higher than anamount of GPS data collected before its transmission to the server 110because of a number of sensor measurements involved in acquiring the IMUdata and a higher frequency of acquiring the IMU data in comparison witha frequency of obtaining the GPS data, e.g., the frequency of 25 Hz forupdating the sensors' measurements to acquire the IMU data vs. thefrequency of 1 Hz for obtaining the GPS data. Because of that, if the UE105 directly transmits, via the wireless link 120 of the communicationnetwork 115, the acquired IMU data to the server 110 for processing andlocation determination, a bandwidth and latency of the wireless link 120would be prohibitively expensive, as the bandwidth and the latency wouldbe larger than predetermined upper bounds. In some embodiments, in orderto achieve bandwidth and latency requirements, the UE 105 appliesencoding (compression) of the IMU data to reduce dimensionality of theIMU data before transmitting the IMU data across the communicationnetwork 115 to the server 110.

The UE 105 processes (e.g., compresses) 215 the acquired IMU data toreduce dimensionality of the acquired IMU data from its originaldimensionality to a reduced dimensionality. In an embodiment, the UE 105reduces dimensionality of the acquired IMU data based on variationalauto encoding of the IMU data. In another embodiment, the UE 105 reducesdimensionality of the acquired IMU data based on applying fingerprintingbased encoding to the acquired IMU data. Other compression schemes canbe also applied at the UE 105 for reducing dimensionality of theacquired IMU data.

The UE 105 transmits 220 the GPS data over the communication network 115using a first transmission periodicity. In an embodiment, the firsttransmission periodicity is related to a frequency of obtaining GPSdata. In an illustrative embodiment, the first transmission periodicitycan be approximately 1 second that corresponds to the frequency ofobtaining GPS data of approximately 1 Hz. In other illustrativeembodiments, the first transmission periodicity can be approximately 4seconds, 2 seconds, or 0.5 second corresponding to the frequency ofobtaining GPS data of approximately 0.25 Hz, 0.5 Hz, or 2 Hz,respectively. The UE 105 can transmit 220 the GPS data to the server 110over the communication network 115 using the wireless link 120.

The UE 105 transmits 225 the processed (e.g., compressed) IMU data tothe server 110 over the communication network 115 using a secondtransmission periodicity. In some embodiments, the second transmissionperiodicity of transmitting the compressed IMU data is related to thereduced dimensionality of the compressed IMU data. For example, toachieve a constant or nearly constant communication bandwidth betweenthe UE 105 and the server 110, the second transmission periodicity isset to a smaller (or larger) value and the compressed IMU data aretransmitted more (or less) frequently if a size of the compressed IMUdata is smaller (or larger). In an embodiment, the UE 105 can transmit225 the compressed IMU data to the server 110 over the communicationnetwork 115 using the wireless link 120. The UE 105 transmits 225 thecompressed IMU data separately and independently of transmitting the GPSdata. As discussed in more detail below in conjunction with FIG. 3 andFIG. 5, server 110 uses the GPS data and the compressed IMU data toimprove determination of location information in relation to the UE 105.In some embodiments, as discussed, a dimensionality of the acquired IMUdata can be reduced based on a compression scheme applied at the UE 105.By compressing the acquired IMU data and reducing its dimensionality, acommunication bandwidth associated with transmission of the compressedIMU data over the wireless link 120 is reduced below an upper bound. Insome embodiments, the upper bound for the communication bandwidth ispredetermined by a network controller (not shown in FIG. 1) or by theserver 110 at the time when the wireless link 120 is established.

In some embodiments, the UE 105 transmits 225 the compressed IMU dataover the communication network 115 using the second transmissionperiodicity that depends on a frequency of performing the compressionscheme at the UE 105. The UE 105 transmits 225 the compressed IMU dataover the communication network 115 more often if the compression schemeis performed more frequently, and vice versa. The UE 105 may receive afeedback from the server 110 indicative of a location of the UE 105 on amap and/or a quality of the GPS data. Based on the feedback, the UE 105adjusts a frequency of performing the compression scheme. If thefeedback indicates that the UE 105 is located in one of predefinedcritical regions on the map where the GPS data are not reliable (or theUE 105 is located within a threshold vicinity from a predeterminedcritical region and is approaching the predetermined critical region),the UE 105 transmits the compressed IMU data more frequently and alsoincreases the frequency of performing the compression scheme.Alternatively, if the feedback indicates that the UE 105 is locatedoutside any predefined critical region on the map and the GPS data arereliable, the UE 105 transmits the compressed IMU data less frequentlyor even stops transmitting the compressed IMU data. In this case, the UE105 decreases the frequency of performing the compression scheme or evenstops performing the compression scheme to save power.

In some embodiments, the UE 105 transmits 225 the compressed IMU dataover the communication network 115 using the second transmissionperiodicity that depends on a compression rate of the compressionscheme. For example, if the compression rate is higher causing thatdimensionality reduction of IMU data is larger and a size of thecompressed IMU data is smaller, the UE 105 is able to transmit thecompressed IMU data more often and still keep communication bandwidthbelow a predetermined upper bound. Alternatively, if the compressionrate is smaller causing that dimensionality reduction of IMU data issmaller and a size of the compressed IMU data is larger, the UE 105transmits the compressed IMU data less often in order to preservecommunication bandwidth below a predetermined upper bound.

In some embodiments, a periodicity of transmitting compressed IMU dataacross the communication network 115 can be a dynamic function of atleast one of: a location of the UE 105, or GPS data previously obtainedby the UE 105 and provided to the server 110. Information about thelocation of the UE 105 can be known at the UE 105. In an embodiment, theserver 110 communicates, via the communication network 115 to the UE105, a feedback signal comprising the location information of the UE105. If the UE 105 is either approaching or is already located in one ofpredefined critical regions on a map, such as in one of areas known asurban canyons where GPS significantly drifts off within a short timeperiod, the UE 105 is configured to transmit the compressed IMU data tothe server 110 more frequently, i.e., the periodicity of transmittingthe compressed IMU data decreases. Alternatively, if the UE 105 islocated outside any predetermined critical region, the UE 105 isconfigured to transmit the compressed IMU data to the server 110 lessfrequently or even to stop transmission of the compressed IMU data.Therefore, the UE 105 is configured to adjust a periodicity oftransmitting the compressed IMU data based on location information ofthe UE 105, which may be communicated to the UE 105 from the server 110.

In some embodiments, the UE 105 has knowledge about position informationdescribing a location of the UE 105. In an embodiment, the UE 105obtains the position information from an on-board GPS receiver. In analternate embodiment, the UE receives a feedback signal from the server110 with position information describing a location of the UE 105 on amap. If the position information indicates that the UE 105 is locatedwithin a threshold vicinity from a predetermined critical region on themap and the UE 105 is approaching the predetermined critical region, theUE 105 adjusts transmission of the compressed IMU data by decreasing atransmission periodicity and the compressed IMU data are transmittedmore frequently. The UE 105 may also perform compression of the IMU datamore frequently. As discussed above, a frequency of performing thecompression scheme increases as the frequency of performing thecompression scheme is related to the transmission periodicity of thecompressed IMU data. Alternatively, if the position informationindicates that the UE 105 is located outside a threshold vicinity from apredetermined critical region on a map and the UE 105 is moving awayfrom the predetermined critical region, the UE 105 adjusts transmissionof the compressed IMU data by increasing a transmission periodicity, andthe UE transmits the compressed IMU data less frequently or the UE 105stops transmitting the compressed IMU data. In this case, the UE 105 mayperform compression of the IMU data less frequently or even stopperforming compression of the IMU data. As the compression is performedless frequently or not performed at all, power consumption at the UE 105decreases.

In some embodiments, the UE 105 receives from the server 110 a feedbacksignal with information about a quality metric associated with GPS datapreviously obtained by the UE 105 and communicated to the server 110.The server 110 may obtain the quality metric of the GPS data and comparethe metric with a predetermined threshold value to establish whether theGPS data are reliable for accurate location determination. In anembodiment, the server 110 predetermines the threshold value byinferring locations of multiple UEs 105 in communication with the server110 based only on GPS data received from the UEs 105, while the UEs 105are located at known test locations. In some embodiments, the server 110reduces an upload frequency of the IMU data received from the one ormore UEs 105 when the server 110 has information that the one or moreUEs 105 are located in known “good areas” where the GPS data arereliable for accurate location determination. The server 110 may alsoinstruct the one or more UEs 105 to send the IMU data more frequently,when the server 110 has information that the one or more UEs 105 arelocated in known “bad areas” where the GPS data are not reliable foraccurate location determination. The server 110 may utilize both the GPSdata when the one or more UEs 105 are located in known “good areas” andthe GPS data when the one or more UEs 105 are located in known “badareas” to set up a threshold value for the quality metric of GPS data.If the quality metric of the GPS data is below the predeterminedthreshold value indicating that the GPS data are not reliable foraccurate location determination, the UE 105 adjusts transmission of thecompressed IMU data by decreasing a transmission periodicity, i.e., theUE 105 transmits the compressed IMU data more frequently. The UE 105 mayalso perform compression of the IMU data more frequently to adjustsupply of the compressed IMU data to the decreased transmissionperiodicity. Alternatively, if the quality metric of GPS data is abovethe predetermined threshold value indicating that the GPS data arereliable for accurate location determination, the UE 105 adjuststransmission of the compressed IMU data by increasing a transmissionperiodicity, i.e., the UE 105 transmits the compressed IMU data lessfrequently or the UE 105 stops transmitting the compressed IMU data. Inthis case, the UE 105 may also perform compression of the IMU data lessfrequently or even stop performing compression of the IMU data to savepower consumption as the GPS data are sufficient for accuratedetermination of location information. Furthermore, when the quality ofmetric is above the threshold value, the UE 105 may be configured toreduce a frequency of updating the sensors' measurements for acquiringthe IMU data in order to lower power consumption and optimize operationof the UE 105.

In some embodiments, the UE 105 can be also configured to dynamicallyadjust a compression rate of a compression scheme applied at the UE 105to reduce dimensionality of the acquired IMU data, based on the feedbacksignal received from the server 110. In an embodiment, as discussedabove, the UE 105 receives from the server 110 the feedback signal withinformation about location of the UE 105 on the map and/or informationabout the quality metric of the GPS data. If the received feedbacksignal indicates that the UE 105 is located within a threshold vicinityfrom a predetermined critical region on the map and the UE 105 isapproaching the predetermined critical region and/or the quality metricof GPS data is below a predetermined threshold value, the UE 105 mayadjust compression of the IMU data by increasing the compression rate orselecting a compression scheme with a higher compression rate to furtherreduce dimensionality of the compressed IMU data. Due to the highercompression rate and reduced dimensionality (size) of the compressed IMUdata, the UE 105 is able to transmit the compressed IMU data over thecommunication network 115 more frequently while keeping a communicationbandwidth and communication latency below predetermined upper bounds.Alternatively, if the received feedback signal indicates that the UE 105is located outside a threshold vicinity from a predetermined criticalregion on the map and the UE 105 is moving away from the predeterminedcritical region and/or the quality metric of GPS data is above thepredetermined threshold value, the UE 105 may adjust compression of theIMU data by decreasing the compression rate or selecting a compressionscheme with a lower compression rate to increase dimensionality of thecompressed IMU data. By compressing the IMU data with a lowercompression rate, the UE 105 may consume less power as a compressionscheme is less computationally intensive in this case. Due to a lowercompression rate, a dimensionality (size) of the compressed IMU data ishigher. However, the UE 105 is able to preserve communication bandwidthbelow a predetermined upper bound as the UE 105 transmits the compressedIMU data over the communication network 115 less frequently.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 that may be performedat the server 110 in FIG. 1, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Operations of the method 300 begin as the server 110receives 305, from the UE 105 via the communication network 115, GPSdata with position information of the UE 105. As discussed above, in anembodiment, a periodicity of receiving the GPS data can be approximately1 second, which corresponds to a frequency of approximately 1 Hz ofobtaining the GPS data at the UE 105. In alternate embodiments, aperiodicity of receiving the GPS data can be approximately 4 seconds, 2seconds, 0.5 seconds, or some other periodicity, which corresponds to afrequency of obtaining the GPS data at the UE 105 of approximately 0.25Hz, 0.5 Hz, 2 Hz, or some other frequency, respectively.

The server 110 receives 310, from the UE 105 via the communicationnetwork 115, compressed IMU data with other position information of theUE 105. In some embodiments, as discussed, the received compressed IMUdata represent a compressed version of IMU data acquired at one or moresensors of the UE 105. Therefore, the received compressed IMU data havea dimensionality (size) smaller than an original dimensionality of theIMU data as acquired by the one or more sensors of the UE 105. Theserver 110 receives 310 the compressed IMU data from the UE 105independently and separately from reception 305 of the GPS data.

The server 110 determines 315 a quality metric of the currently receivedGPS data. In an embodiment, the server 110 determines first locationinformation of the UE 105 to check where the UE 105 was located at lastreporting of GPS data prior to reporting 305 of the current GPS data.The UE 105 determines the first location information based at least inpart on the last reported GPS data prior to reporting 305 of the currentGPS data. The server 110 also determines second location information ofthe UE 105 based only on the currently received GPS data. Then, theserver 110 determines a location drift based on comparison between thefirst location information and the second location information. Theserver 110 further compares the determined location drift with anexpected legitimate movement of the UE 105 for a time period between twoconsecutive receptions of GPS data (e.g., 1 second) calculated based oninformation about velocity of the UE 105 known at the server 110. If thelocation drift is substantially different from the expected legitimatemovement of the UE 105, the server 110 establishes that the currentlyreceived GPS data are not reliable for accurate location determination.The server 110 further sets a value of the quality metric below apredetermined threshold value to indicate that the current GPS data arenot reliable. Alternatively, if the location drift is same as orapproximately same as the expected legitimate movement of the UE 105,the server 110 establishes that the currently received GPS data arereliable. Then, the server 110 sets a value of the quality metric abovethe predetermined threshold value indicating that the current GPS dataare reliable.

In some embodiments, if the determined quality metric of the receivedGPS data is below the predetermined threshold value indicating that thequality of GPS data is unsatisfactory for accurate determination oflocation information of the UE 105, the server 110 augments the receivedGPS data using the received IMU data to improve position data inrelation to the UE 105. Based on the determined quality metric, theserver 110 can process 320 (e.g., decompress) the compressed IMU data toincrease dimensionality of the compressed IMU data from the reduceddimensionality to the original dimensionality and to reconstructoriginal IMU data as acquired by the UE 105. In one or more embodiments,the server 110 utilizes decompression (decoding) scheme that depends oncompression (encoding) scheme applied at the UE 105 for processing ofthe acquired IMU data. Thus, in one embodiment, the server 110 can applyvariational auto decoding to reconstruct the IMU data. In anotherembodiment, the server 110 can apply fingerprinting based decoding toreconstruct the IMU data. Other decoding and decompression schemes canbe also applied at the server 110 for reconstructing the original IMUdata.

Based on the determined quality metric of GPS data being below thepredetermined threshold value, the server 110 augments 325 the receivedGPS data with the processed (reconstructed) IMU data to obtain augmentedposition data in relation to location information of the UE 105. Thus,in order to improve determining location information of the UE 105, theserver 110 combines (fuses) the currently received GPS data with thereconstructed (decompressed) IMU data received from the UE 105. In oneembodiment, the received GPS data can be fused with the reconstructedIMU data based on the Kalman filtering of the GPS data and thereconstructed IMU data applied at the server 110. In another embodiment,the server 110 fuses the received GPS data with the reconstructed IMUdata based on the centralized filter fusion. In yet another embodiment,the server 110 fuses the received GPS data with the reconstructed IMUdata based on the federated filter fusion. In yet another embodiment,the server 110 fuses the received GPS data with the reconstructed IMUdata based on a Hidden Markov Model (HMM). For generating the HMM, aprior can be n-minute GPS state, where n is an integer or a fraction(e.g., n=2, and a prior is based on GPS data obtained every twominutes). Both GPS data and IMU data can be used to create a prior withpossible transition states, whereas GPS data, IMU data and road networkdata can be used to compute transition costs. Other methods for fusionof the reconstructed IMU data and the GPS data can be also applied atthe server 110.

The server 110 determines 330 location information of the UE 105 basedon the augmented (fused) position data. In some embodiments, the server110 performs map matching based on the augmented (fused) position datato determine 330 the location information of the UE 105. The server 110then provides the determined location information to the UE 105, e.g.,via the wireless link 120 of the communication network 115.

In some embodiments, the server 110 generates a feedback signal based onthe determined quality metric of the received GPS data, and the server110 transmits the feedback signal to the UE 105, e.g., via the wirelesslink 120 of the communication network 115. If the feedback signalindicates that the determined quality metric is below a predeterminedthreshold value meaning that the GPS data are not reliable, the feedbacksignal may comprise an instruction for the UE 105 to start transmittingcompressed IMU data more frequently. In contrast, if the feedback signalindicates that the determined quality metric is above the predeterminedthreshold value meaning that the GPS data are reliable, the feedbacksignal may comprise an instruction for the UE 105 to start transmittingcompressed IMU data less frequently or even to stop transmitting thecompressed IMU data. When the quality metric of GPS data is above thepredetermined threshold value, the server 110 may be able to accuratelydetermine location information of the UE 105 based only on the receivedGPS data.

In some embodiments, the server 110 generates a feedback signal based onlocation information of the UE 105, and the server 110 transmits thefeedback signal to the UE 105, e.g., via the wireless link 120 of thecommunication network 115. The location information of the UE 105 can bedetermined either based on the augmented position data or only on thecurrently received GPS data. If the UE 105 is located within a thresholdvicinity from a predetermined critical region on a map and the UE 105 isapproaching the predetermined critical region, the feedback signal maycomprise an instruction for the UE 105 to start transmitting compressedIMU data more frequently. Alternatively, if the UE 105 is locatedoutside a threshold vicinity from a predetermined critical region on amap and the UE 105 is moving away from the predetermined criticalregion, the feedback signal may comprise an instruction for the UE 105to start transmitting compressed IMU data less frequently or even tostop transmitting the compressed IMU data.

Hardware Diagrams

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a computing device 400 uponwhich embodiments described herein may be implemented. In oneembodiment, the computing device 400 may correspond to a mobilecomputing device, such as a cellular device that is capable oftelephony, messaging, and data services. The computing device 400 cancorrespond to a client device, a device carried by a driver of anautomobile, or a device carried in the driver's automobile. Examples ofsuch devices include smartphones, handsets or tablet devices forcellular carriers. The computing device 400 is an embodiment of the UE105 described above in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3. The computing device400 includes a processor 410, memory resources 420, a display device 430(e.g., such as a touch-sensitive display device), one or morecommunication sub-systems 440 (including wireless communicationsub-systems), input mechanisms 450 (e.g., an input mechanism can includeor be part of the touch-sensitive display device), a location detectionmechanism based on a GPS component 460, and one or more sensors 465(e.g., an IMU, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, a spatialtriangulation sensor, etc.). In one example, at least one of thecommunication sub-systems 440 sends and receives cellular data over datachannels and voice channels.

The processor 410 is configured with software and/or other logic toperform one or more processes, operations and other functions describedwith implementations, such as described by FIGS. 1-3, and elsewhere inthe application. The processor 410 is configured, with instructions anddata stored in the memory resources 420, to perform operations asdescribed in FIGS. 1-3. The processor 410 can provide a variety ofcontent to the display 430 by executing instructions and/or applicationsthat are stored in the memory resources 420. One or more user interfaces415 can be provided by the processor 410.

The GPS component 460 obtains GPS data with position information of thecomputing device 400. The GPS component 460 may be a GPS receiverconfigured to determine GPS data in relation to the computing device400. In an embodiment, the GPS component 460 obtains the GPS data with afrequency of approximately every 1 Hz, i.e., with a periodicity ofapproximately 1 second. In alternate embodiments, the GPS component 460obtains the GPS data with a frequency of 0.25 Hz, 0.5 Hz, 2 Hz, or withsome other frequency. The GPS component 460 may provide GPS data 470obtained at the GPS component 460 to the communication sub-systems 440.

The sensors 465 comprise an IMU, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, amagnetometer, a spatial triangulation sensor, or other position sensors.The sensors 465 generate measurement signals, i.e., IMU data 475, inresponse to motion of the computing device 400. The sensors 465 providethe acquired IMU data 475 to the processor 410 for further processing.In an embodiment, the sensors 465 acquire the IMU data 475 with afrequency of approximately 25 Hz. Thus, the IMU data 475 are generatedmore often than the GPS data 470. Because of that, dimensionality (size)of the IMU data 475 may be prohibitively high, as a bandwidth andlatency of wireless communication of the IMU data 475 across acommunication network 480 may be prohibitively high. In someembodiments, the processor 410 can apply an encoding (compression)scheme to reduce dimensionality of the IMU data 475 and generatecompressed IMU data 485. The processor 410 provides the compressed IMUdata 485 to the communication sub-systems 440 for transmission over thecommunication network 480.

The processor 410 is configured to process the IMU data 475 receivedfrom the sensors 465 to reduce dimensionality (size) of the IMU data 475and generate the compressed IMU data 485 with a reduced dimensionality.In an embodiment, the processor 410 is configured to perform variationalauto encoding of the IMU data 475 to generate the encoded (compressed)IMU data 485. In another embodiment, the processor 410 is configured toperform fingerprinting based encoding of the IMU data 475 to generatethe encoded (compressed) IMU data 485. Other compression schemes can bealso applied at the processor 410 to reduce dimensionality of the IMUdata 475.

The communication sub-systems 440 may independently and separatelyreceive the GPS data 470 from the GPS component 460 and the compressedIMU data 485 from the processor 410. A wireless communicationtransmitter included in the communication sub-systems 440 may transmit,to another computer system via a wireless link of the communicationnetwork 480, the GPS data 470 using a first transmission periodicity.The wireless communication transmitter in the communication sub-systems440 may further transmit, to the other computer system via the wirelesslink of the communication network 480, the compressed IMU data 485 usinga second transmission periodicity that may be related to the reduceddimensionality of the compressed IMU data 485. By reducingdimensionality of the IMU data 475, a bandwidth and latency fortransmission of the compressed IMU data 485 over the communicationnetwork 480 is reduced below a predetermined upper bound.

In some embodiments, transmission of the compressed IMU data 485 acrossthe network 480 can be dynamic function of at least one of a location ofthe computing device 400 or the GPS data 470 previously obtained by thecomputing device 400 and provided to another computer system (server).In one embodiment, information about the location of the computingdevice 400 on a map can be provided within a feedback signal 490transmitted, via the communication network 480, from the other computersystem and received at a wireless communication receiver of thecommunication sub-systems 440. If the feedback signal 490 indicates thatthe computing device 400 is located in one of predefined criticalregions on the map (e.g., areas known as urban canyons where the GPSdata 470 significantly drifts off within a short time period) or thecomputing device 400 is located within a threshold vicinity from apredetermined critical region and is approaching the predeterminedcritical region, the wireless communication transmitter of thecommunication sub-systems 440 is configured to transmit the compressedIMU data 485 more frequently and a periodicity of transmitting thecompressed IMU data 485 decreases. Alternatively, if the feedback signal490 indicates that the computing device 400 is located outside anypredefined critical region on the map or the computing device 400 islocated outside a threshold vicinity from a predetermined criticalregion and is distancing from the predetermined critical region, thewireless communication transmitter of the communication sub-systems 440is configured to transmit the compressed IMU data 485 less frequently oreven to stop transmitting the compressed IMU data 485. The feedbacksignal 490 indicative of location of the computing device 400 on the mapcan be further provided to the processor 410. Based on the feedbacksignal 490, the processor 410 may adjust a frequency of processing(e.g., compression) of the IMU data 475 that should be related to aperiodicity of transmitting the compressed IMU data 485 over thecommunication network 480. In one embodiment, if, based on the feedbacksignal 490, the transmission of the compressed IMU data 485 stops, theprocessor 410 may be configured to stop processing the IMU data 475,which reduces power consumption at the computing device 400.

In another embodiment, the feedback signal 490 can comprise informationabout a quality metric associated with GPS data 470 previously obtainedby the computing device 400 and communicated to another computer systemvia the communication network 480. If the feedback signal 490 indicatesthat the quality metric is below a predetermined threshold value meaningthat the GPS data 470 are not reliable, the wireless communicationtransmitter of the communication sub-systems 440 is configured totransmit the compressed IMU data 485 more frequently across thecommunication network 480. Alternatively, if the feedback signal 490indicates that the quality metric is above the predetermined thresholdmeaning that the GPS data 470 are reliable, the wireless communicationtransmitter of the communication sub-systems 440 is configured totransmit the compressed IMU data 485 less frequently across thecommunication network 480 or even to stop transmitting the compressedIMU data 485. The feedback signal 490 indicative of the quality ofmetric of the GPS data 470 can be further provided to the processor 410.Based on the feedback signal 490, the processor 410 may adjust afrequency of processing (e.g., compression) of the IMU data 475 thatshould be related to a periodicity of transmitting the compressed IMUdata 485 over the communication network 480.

In some embodiments, the processor 410 can be also configured todynamically adjust, based on the feedback signal 490, a compression rateof a compression (encoding) scheme that is applied to reducedimensionality of the acquired IMU data 475. The feedback signal 490 maycomprise at least one of location information of the computing device400 on a map or information about a quality metric of GPS data. If thefeedback signal 490 indicates that the computing device 400 is locatedwithin a threshold vicinity from a predetermined critical region on themap and the computing device 400 is approaching the predeterminedcritical region and/or the quality metric of GPS data is below a definedthreshold, the processor 410 may adjust compression of the IMU data 475by increasing the compression rate or selecting a compression schemewith a higher compression rate to further reduce dimensionality of thecompressed IMU data 485. Due to the higher compression rate and reduceddimensionality (size) of the compressed IMU data 485, the computingdevice 400 is able to transmit the compressed IMU data 485 over thecommunication network 480 more frequently while keeping a transmissionbandwidth and transmission latency below predetermined upper bounds.Alternatively, if the feedback signal 490 indicates that the computingdevice is located outside a threshold vicinity from a predeterminedcritical region on the map and the computing device is moving away fromthe predetermined critical region and/or the quality metric of GPS datais above a defined threshold, the processor 410 may adjust compressionof the IMU data 475 by decreasing the compression rate or selecting acompression scheme with a lower compression rate to increasedimensionality of the compressed IMU data 485. By compressing the IMUdata 475 with a lower compression rate, the processor 410 may saveconsumption power as a compression scheme is less computationallyintensive. Due to a lower compression rate, a dimensionality (size) ofthe compressed IMU data 485 is higher. However, the computing device 400is able to preserve a transmission bandwidth and transmission latencybelow predetermined upper bounds as the wireless communicationtransmitter of the communication sub-systems 440 transmits thecompressed IMU data 485 over the communication network 480 lessfrequently.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 500 uponwhich embodiments described herein may be implemented. The computersystem 500 can correspond to a server device. Examples of such devicesinclude base stations or access points for cellular carriers. Thecomputer system 500 is an embodiment of the server 110 described abovein conjunction with FIGS. 1-3.

In one implementation, the computer system 500 includes at least oneprocessor 510, a main memory 520, a read only memory (ROM) 530, and acommunication interface 540. The computer system 500 includes the atleast one processor 510 for processing information and the main memory520, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storagedevice, for storing information and instructions to be executed by theprocessor 510. The main memory 520 also may be used for storingtemporary variables or other intermediate information during executionof instructions to be executed by the processor 510. The computer system500 may also include the ROM 530 or other static storage device forstoring static information and instructions for the processor 510.

The communication interface 540 can enable the computer system 500 tocommunicate with one or more networks 550 (e.g., cellular network)through use of the network link (wireless or wireline). Using thenetwork link, the computer system 500 can communicate with one or morecomputing devices, and one or more servers. In some variations, thecomputer system 500 can communicate with a driver device via the networklink. Data received from the driver device can be processed by theprocessor 510 to determine location information corresponding to thedriver device. The determined location information can be transmittedover the network 550 to the driver device of a driver that has beenselected to provide a transport service for a user.

The communication interface 540 receives, via a wireless link of thenetwork 550, GPS data 555 related to a computing device in communicationwith the computer system 500, e.g., the computing device 400 in FIG. 4.In an embodiment, a periodicity of receiving the GPS data 555 isapproximately 1 second, which corresponds to a frequency ofapproximately 1 Hz for obtaining the GPS data 555 at the computingdevice 400. In alternate embodiments, a periodicity of receiving the GPSdata 555 can be approximately 4 seconds, 2 seconds, or 0.5 secondcorresponding to the frequency of obtaining GPS data of approximately0.25 Hz, 0.5 Hz, or 2 Hz, respectively. In one or more embodiments, thereceived GPS data 555 may be stored at the ROM 530 and/or the mainmemory 520 and used by the processor 510 for determining locationinformation of the computing device 400.

The communication interface 540 receives, via a wireless link of thenetwork 550, compressed IMU data 560 generated at the computing device400. The compressed IMU data 560 may represent a compressed version ofIMU data acquired at the one or more sensors 465 of the computing device400. Therefore, the compressed IMU data 560 have a dimensionalitysmaller than an original dimensionality of the IMU data as acquired atthe computing device 400. The communication interface 540 receives thecompressed IMU data 560 independently and separately from reception ofthe GPS data 555. In one or more embodiments, the received compressedIMU data 560 may be stored at the ROM 530 and/or the main memory 520 andused by the processor 510 for determining location information of thecomputing device 400.

In some embodiments, the processor 510 determines a quality metric ofthe received GPS data 555. The processor 510 determines first locationinformation of the computing device 400 to check where the computingdevice 400 was located at last reporting of GPS data prior to reportingof the current GPS data 555. The processor 510 determines the firstlocation information based at least in part on the last reported GPSdata received from the computing device 400 prior to reception of thecurrent GPS data 555. The processor 510 also determines second locationinformation of the computing device 400 based only on the currentlyreceived GPS data 555. Then, the processor 510 determines a locationdrift based on comparison between the first location information and thesecond location information. The processor 510 further compares thedetermined location drift with an expected legitimate movement of thecomputing device 400 for a time period between two consecutivereceptions of GPS data (e.g., 1 second) calculated based on informationabout velocity of the computing device 400 known by the processor 510.If the location drift is substantially different from the expectedlegitimate movement of the computing device 400, the processor 510establishes that the currently received GPS data 555 are not reliablefor accurate location determination. The processor 510 further sets avalue of the quality metric below a predetermined threshold value toindicate that the current GPS data 555 are not reliable. Alternatively,if the location drift is same as or approximately same as the expectedlegitimate movement of the computing device 400, the processor 510establishes that the currently received GPS data 555 are reliable foraccurate location determination. Then, the processor 510 sets a value ofthe quality metric above the predetermined threshold value indicatingthat the current GPS data 555 are reliable.

If the determined quality metric of the received GPS data 555 is belowthe predetermined threshold value meaning that the GPS data 555 are notreliable, the received GPS data 555 are augmented with the compressedIMU data 560 to improve position information describing a location ofthe computing device 400. Based on the determined quality metric beingbelow the predetermined threshold value, the processor 510 decompresses(decodes) the compressed IMU data 560 to reconstruct originally acquiredIMU data. In some embodiments, the processor 510 may utilize adecompression (decoding) scheme that depends on compression (encoding)scheme applied at the processor 410 of the computing device 400. Thus,in one embodiment, the processor 510 can apply variational auto decodingto reconstruct the IMU data. In another embodiment, the processor 510can apply fingerprinting based decoding to reconstruct the IMU data.Other decoding and decompression schemes can be also applied at theprocessor 510 for reconstructing the IMU data. After reconstructing theoriginal IMU data, the processor 510 fuses (combines) the GPS data 555with the reconstructed original IMU data to obtain fused position data.The processor 510 then performs map matching based on the fused positiondata to determine location information of the computing device 400. Thecommunication interface 540 provides the determined location informationto the computing device 400 via a wireless link of the network 550.

In some embodiments, the processor 510 generates a feedback signal 565indicative of a position of the computing device 400 on a map, based onthe determined location of the computing device 400. The feedback signal565 may further comprise information about the quality metric of thereceived GPS data 555. As discussed above, the location of the computingdevice 400 on the map can be determined at the processor 510 eitherbased on the received GPS data 555 being fused with the reconstructedIMU data or based only on the received GPS data 555. Also, the processor510 is configured to determine the quality of the received GPS data 555.The communication interface 540 transmits the feedback signal 565 to thecomputing device 400, wherein the feedback signal 565 may comprise aninstruction for the computing device 400 to adjust a periodicity oftransmitting the compressed IMU data 560. In an embodiment, if thedetermined location of the computing device 400 is within a thresholdvicinity from a predefined critical region on a map and the computingdevice 400 is approaching the predefined critical region and/or thequality metric of the GPS data 555 is below a predetermined thresholdvalue indicating that the GPS data 555 are not reliable, the feedbacksignal 565 may comprise an instruction for the computing device 400 tobegin transmitting the compressed IMU data 560 more frequently. Inanother embodiment, if the determined location of the computing device400 is outside a threshold vicinity from a predefined critical region ona map and the computing device 400 is moving away from the predefinedcritical region and/or the quality metric of the GPS data 555 is abovethe predetermined threshold value indicating that the GPS data 555 arereliable, the feedback signal 565 may comprise an instruction for thecomputing device 400 to transmit the compressed IMU data 560 lessfrequently or even to stop transmitting the compressed IMU data 560.

Examples described herein are related to the use of the computer system500 for implementing the techniques described herein. According to oneembodiment, those techniques are performed by the computer system 500 inresponse to the processor 510 executing one or more sequences of one ormore instructions contained in the main memory 520. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in the main memory 520 causes theprocessor 510 to perform the process steps described herein. Inalternative implementations, hard-wired circuitry may be used in placeof or in combination with software instructions to implement examplesdescribed herein. Thus, the examples described are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

Additional Configuration Information

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the disclosure has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of thedisclosure in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are commonly used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively toothers skilled in the art. These operations, while describedfunctionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits,microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient attimes, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, withoutloss of generality. The described operations and their associatedmodules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or anycombinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the disclosure may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storagemedium, or any type of media suitable for storing electronicinstructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus.Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification mayinclude a single processor or may be architectures employing multipleprocessor designs for increased computing capability.

Embodiments of the disclosure may also relate to a product that isproduced by a computing process described herein. Such a product maycomprise information resulting from a computing process, where theinformation is stored on a non-transitory, tangible computer readablestorage medium and may include any embodiment of a computer programproduct or other data combination described herein.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the disclosure be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of thedisclosure, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a receiver configured toobtain global positioning system (GPS) data for the apparatus; at leastone sensor configured to acquire sensor data associated with theapparatus; a processor configured to process the acquired sensor data;and a transmitter configured to: periodically transmit the GPS data overa communication network with a first transmission periodicity, andperiodically transmit the processed sensor data over the communicationnetwork with a second transmission periodicity, the second transmissionperiodicity adjusted over time based at least in part on informationabout a location of the apparatus.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:the receiver is further configured to receive a feedback signal fromanother apparatus indicative of the location of the apparatus; and thetransmitter is further configured to adjust transmission of theprocessed sensor data by adjusting the second transmission periodicity,based on the received feedback signal.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the received feedback signal is further indicative of a qualitymetric of the GPS data, and the transmitter is further configured to:adjust transmission of the processed sensor data by decreasing thesecond transmission periodicity, when the quality metric is below apredetermined threshold value; and adjust transmission of the processedsensor data by increasing the second transmission periodicity, when thequality metric is above the predetermined threshold value.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is further configured to:adjust transmission of the processed sensor data by decreasing thesecond transmission periodicity, when the location of the apparatus iswithin a threshold vicinity from a defined region; and adjusttransmission of the processed sensor data by increasing the secondtransmission periodicity, when the location of the apparatus is outsidethe threshold vicinity from the defined region.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein: the receiver is further configured to receive afeedback signal from another apparatus indicative of the location of theapparatus; and the processor is further configured to adjust processingof the acquired sensor data, based on the received feedback signal. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the receiver is further configured toreceive a feedback signal from another apparatus indicative of a qualitymetric of the GPS data; and the processor is further configured toadjust processing of the acquired sensor data, based on the receivedfeedback signal. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least onesensor comprises at least one of: an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and a spatial triangulationsensor coupled to the apparatus.
 8. A method comprising: obtaining, atan apparatus, global positioning system (GPS) data for the apparatus;acquiring, by at least one sensor coupled to the apparatus, sensor dataassociated with the apparatus; processing the acquired sensor data;periodically transmitting the GPS data over a communication network witha first transmission periodicity; and periodically transmitting theprocessed sensor data over the communication network with a secondtransmission periodicity, the second transmission periodicity adjustedover time based at least in part on information about a location of theapparatus.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second transmissionperiodicity is further based on a quality metric of the GPS data. 10.The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, at the apparatus,a feedback signal from another apparatus indicative of the location ofthe apparatus; and adjusting transmission of the processed sensor databy adjusting the second transmission periodicity, based on the receivedfeedback signal.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the receivedfeedback signal is further indicative of a quality metric of the GPSdata, and the method further comprising: adjusting transmission of theprocessed sensor data by decreasing the second transmission periodicity,when the quality metric is below a predetermined threshold value; andadjusting transmission of the processed sensor data by increasing thesecond transmission periodicity, when the quality metric is above thepredetermined threshold value.
 12. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: adjusting transmission of the processed sensor data bydecreasing the second transmission periodicity, when the location of theapparatus is within a threshold vicinity from a defined region; andadjusting transmission of the processed sensor data by increasing thesecond transmission periodicity, when the location of the apparatus isoutside the threshold vicinity from the defined region.
 13. The methodof claim 8, further comprising: receiving, at the apparatus, a feedbacksignal from another apparatus indicative of the location of theapparatus; and adjusting processing of the acquired sensor data, basedon the received feedback signal.
 14. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: receiving, at the apparatus, a feedback signal from anotherapparatus indicative of a quality metric of the GPS data; and adjustingprocessing of the acquired sensor data, based on the received feedbacksignal.
 15. The method of claim 8, wherein processing the acquiredsensor data comprises encoding of the acquired sensor data.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein encoding of the acquired sensor data isbased on variational auto encoding of the acquired sensor data to reducedimensionality of the acquired sensor data.
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause theone or more processors to: obtain global positioning system (GPS) datafor the apparatus; acquire sensor data associated with the apparatus;process the acquired sensor data; periodically transmit the GPS dataover a communication network with a first transmission periodicity; andperiodically transmit the processed sensor data over the communicationnetwork with a second transmission periodicity, the second transmissionperiodicity adjusted over time based at least in part on informationabout a location of the apparatus.
 18. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the one or moreprocessors to: receive a feedback signal from another apparatusindicative of the location of the apparatus; and adjust transmission ofthe processed sensor data by adjusting the second transmissionperiodicity, based on the received feedback signal.
 19. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the received feedbacksignal is further indicative of a quality metric of the GPS data, andthe instructions further cause the one or more processors to: adjusttransmission of the processed sensor data by decreasing the secondtransmission periodicity, when the quality metric is below apredetermined threshold value; and adjust transmission of the processedsensor data by increasing the second transmission periodicity, when thequality metric is above the predetermined threshold value.
 20. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions furthercause the one or more processors to: adjust transmission of theprocessed sensor data by decreasing the second transmission periodicity,when the location of the apparatus is within a threshold vicinity from adefined region; and adjust transmission of the processed sensor data byincreasing the second transmission periodicity, when the location of theapparatus is outside the threshold vicinity from the defined region.